Driving experience w/ 265s w/o regear

For those of you with a 3rd gen 4cyl manual who have 265/75/R16 tires and haven't regeared, what's your experience like? Have you lost much acceleration? Is the handling less nimble? What benefits if any have you seen that aren't solely aesthetic? Given that my useage is pretty much on-pavement (with frequent long-distance highway trips ) and mild offroading that usually doesn't get much worse than a bad forest road, I'm not sure I see the benefits BUT WHO KNOWS?

Thanks

 

I have a 2nd gen 2.7 on 265s. It doesn't drive bad. It's a 4 banger so your not going to go anywhere fast but it gets the job done. It's not worth it getting a regear if your just going to run 265s.

 

265/70/17 barely noticeable vs 245/75/16. A manual trans puts the shift points up/down in the operators hands, not the ECU, which is a plus IMO.
No where near enough difference to be thinking re-gear.

 

Thanks. That's the point: I wouldn't regear just to roll with slightly larger tires. I'm not thinking of any regearing for a while, if ever. Figured the difference would be minor and I appreciate the comments.

 

The 4 cyls are already geared much lower. The difference will be less noticeable with the 4 cyl than the V6. And it is all but non existent with the V6. The guys who go to 285's typically re-gear to the axle ratio 4 bangers come from the factory with. Your truck will never be as fast as a V6, but off road, with bigger tires, it isn't handicapped in the least.

 

Thanks for that. That reminds me: I'm still uncertain what the stock gearing is for my truck. One source that circulates on here says 1st is 3.95, another 4.31. Which is it?

 

You have the 5MT, so you'll have 3.90

I'm running 265/75/R16's with the Automatic. The biggest peeve I've noticed is that the truck will downshift when I turn cruise control on (without a vehicle in front of me) when going up even the slightest incline. I can be rolling along at 75, turn Cruise on, and the truck downshifts. I don't know if that's the whacky 3rd gen Transmission, or the weight of the shell+stuff in bed or what that causes it, but it drives me crazy. I also feel like 6th gear is rarely used. Even around town, 5th is more than enough to lug around sub 2k RPM.

Do I have a pressing need to go out and re-gear? Not as long as it costs what it does (and I don't expect it to go down anytime soon!). But I certainly think the truck would perform better with some slightly taller final gearing, if only to get more use out of 6th and maybe not make the engine have to work as hard to keep up highway speeds.

My workaround for highway driving is to now use the Adaptive Cruise Control to it's fullest by simply finding a vehicle that's going a speed I want to go, setting the cruise well over that speed, and allowing the truck to steadily accelerate/decelerate as they do. I've noticed the engine doesn't do nearly as much unnecessary downshifting. Also, no more 85 octane.

 

Thanks, Snaeper, for the detailed response. I've also seen this post, which is where I get the 4.3 ratio reference. Anyone: Is there a way to physically count teeth/check the gears on my truck without taking pieces off? Not a truck guy until all of a sudden I had a truck so I don't know.

Definitely no pressing need to regear, whatever the ratio really is. I appreciate the wide range of speeds that are allowed with the current gearing, as this is my do-everything-go-anywhere-fit-anywhere-just-about-does-everything-fine-truck. SOMETIMES I wish I had a little more oomph on the get go but if I can make my tires squeal as often as I do I'm not sure what I'm really asking for. Mostly I want 2nd to be a little closer to 1st. That's the only gear that doesn't seem quite right. 4Lo seems to solve the need to roll slow and thick when I have to.

 

Im running that setup and I want to regear only because I feel it should have come that way from the factory. I have no reason to do over 75/80mph so better off making the lower speeds more enjoyable hah

 

Not sure what you're referencing in that thread, the first post doesn't list final drive ratios, and a later link shows 3.909. A few members mention incorrect information. 3.909 is the ratio for the 5mt.

At the very least, you could likely find someone swapping from their 4.30 to a different gear and get an oem upgrade for less than going aftermarket. Just a thought.

 

5MT gets you the larger 8.75'' rear axle though, all automatics with the 4.3 ratio are the 8" rear

 

I have a 2nd gen 4cyl 5MT. When I stepped up from 245’s, I definitely felt and noticed the heavier 265/75 Duratracs for the first few days. For me, the change was purely aesthetic.

 

Cool, what's the advantage of the slightly larger rear axle? Is it just more stout because it's thicker?

Looks great! I bet those are heavy tires. Anyone ever used 255s? No one around here seems to mention tires in that size.

 

I run 235/85/16 for about six months out of the year on my 2012 5 speed 4x4 reg cab 2.7. Stock gearing.
I live in the mountains at 5,000 feet, in a part of the world that can see 300 inches of snow in a year. The taller skinnier tires for me are all about the traction. The 235/85's are a set of studded snow tires. There is a fairly signfiant difference in acceleration and MPG from stock 245/75/16 which I run the rest of the year.

Both sets on the taco are ten ply, the 235's weigh a few pounds more. I notice it the most at low RPM acceleration and highway speed about 65. if there is a stiff head wind or a hill im down shifting with the 235's on where prior to that it would have held in 5th just fine. of course, it is not totally the tires fault for me. winter gas here sucks, and I run weight in the bed. but just the tires cost me at least 2 mpg for winter driving.

Other then the high end say the low end of second gear the driveabity is not impacted.
I have thought about re gearing, but it is not worth the cost and expense for me

YMMV

 

Having a larger ring gear/pinion typically means more strength just because of things being larger, lends itself to more material, harder to break. You'd have to reallllly beat on these trucks to blow up a diff. I'm sure you'd grenade a CV joint up front long before blowing a diff up... especially with this lower power engine but I have been wrong before hah

 

Thanks for that report. Refreshing to see performance-based feedback on a more unconventional tire choice.

 

2.7 MT. 265/75/16 MT 10 plys, with other added weight, lift, backrack, Steel skidplate, tow package, fullsize MT spare tire. It sucks in 5th gear on the highway for any hills or cross winds.. Im running very heavy tires though. I had 265 Falken AT3ws on it before with less weight and it did a bit better. What type of tire it is and extra added weight are the factors.

 

That’s what I did. Found some fairly new 4.30 take offs and threw them in there when I had my arb installed.

I run 265/75 and I love it. It’s still a 4 banger but drives much better than stock even when I had the 245 on there. Puts the truck in the perfect power band

 

Snaeper is precisely right. I just made the change myself from 245s to 265/75s. At least with mine, at 80mph on cruise it constantly downshifts making it almost unbearable. I too was considering 4:56s or 4:88s, but maybe a solid catback exhaust setup or headers would help? Idk. Made a 600 mile round trip down to uwharrie with the tires with a 400 pound camper shell and prob another 700 pounds between passengers and camp gear. Did great on trails tho. Hoping a better exhaust would at least help remedy what’s going on.

 

Where did you find these 4.30s? Is 5th still an overdrive gear for you? What are your RPMs in 5th at 75 or 80mph?